User stories

Accurately detecting ionizing radiation is essential in the event of a nuclear incident, in the prevention of terrorism and the smuggling of radioactive materials. However, static or ‘fixed’ radiation detectors can be side-stepped or fail. Mobile detectors capable of networking together offered the possibility of significantly extending real-time coverage of radioactive threats but lacked validation in Europe, hindering deployment.

These customers used a heavily shielded GR1 to measure the radioactivity levels in a building at the Fukushima Daiichi power station

Fast detection of radioactive isotopes being carried across a very busy border using the D3S gamma neutron detector.
The police officer acted fast to use the D3S to track down a car carrying radioactive material.

Replacing an expensive germanium-based detector with a Kromek GR1 room temperature CZT-based gamma spectrometer for radionuclidic purity tests of PET radiopharmaceuticals.

This client used thirty-six Kromek GR1s in a 12 by 3 array to analyse the radiation levels and gamma isotopes in spent nuclear fuel.

EDF Energy required a system that offered high-performance radiation detection capabilities that provided fast and accurate measurement of potentially mixed sources of radiation in real-time while being small and robust enough to be easily transported and used in-field.

Using GR1 gamma spectrometer to find the gamma-ray spectrum of smear papers from a reactor building in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Using a Kromek GR1 for nondestructive activation assessment of a cyclotron bunker. During the operational life of a PET Cyclotron, the concrete walls of the cyclotron vault are activated by the secondary neutron flux interacting with rare earths and metals present in the concrete or in reinforcement bars. For this reason, when considering the dismantling of such accelerators, the amount of radioactive waste has to be evaluated in advance.

Finding out which isotopes are present and the relative contribution to dose for each isotope at a nuclear plant.

A team from Bristol University and the NCNR used Kromek radiation detectors fitted to a fixed-wing drone to map the Red Forest, Chernobyl.